Massachusetts — Workplace Safety

Massachusetts operates an OSHA-approved state plan that covers only state and local government workers. The Massachusetts Workplace Safety and Health Program (WSHP), administered by the Department of Labor Standards, received initial approval from OSHA in August 2022. Private-sector employers and their workers remain under federal OSHA jurisdiction. The state plan requires public employers to comply with federal OSHA standards under 454 CMR 25.00, which incorporates the General Duty Clause and the full set of OSHA safety and health standards (29 C.F.R. Parts 1903, 1904, 1910, 1915, 1917, 1918, 1926, 1928, and 1977).

Source: OSHA Massachusetts State Plan page | 454 CMR 25.00

Public-sector employers in Massachusetts must maintain injury and illness records in accordance with federal OSHA recordkeeping standards under 29 C.F.R. Part 1904, as incorporated by 454 CMR 25.02 and 454 CMR 25.06. The Massachusetts Workplace Safety and Health Program (WSHP) applies the federal recordkeeping framework without substantive modification.

Exemptions from recordkeeping

Employers with 10 or fewer employees at all times during the prior calendar year are partially exempt from OSHA recordkeeping unless the Department of Labor Standards (DLS) or the Bureau of Labor Statistics notifies them in writing to keep records under 29 C.F.R. § 1904.41 or § 1904.42. The 10-employee threshold is measured by peak employment across the entire employer (all establishments combined), not on an establishment-by-establishment basis, under 29 C.F.R. § 1904.1.

Certain low-hazard industries listed in Appendix A to Subpart B of 29 C.F.R. Part 1904 are also partially exempt from recordkeeping. Public-sector employers in those NAICS codes need not maintain logs unless directed in writing by DLS, OSHA, or BLS. Notably, K-12 public schools fall within one of these exempt industry classifications and are therefore not required to maintain OSHA 300 Logs absent written notice.

Even when exempt by size or industry, all public-sector employers must still report to WSHP any work-related incident that results in a fatality, an in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees, an employee amputation, or an employee loss of an eye, under 29 C.F.R. § 1904.39 (incorporated via 454 CMR 25.02).

Required forms

Non-exempt public employers must maintain three linked forms:

• OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses): a running log of all recordable injuries and illnesses, updated within seven calendar days after the employer receives information that a recordable case has occurred (29 C.F.R. § 1904.29).
• OSHA Form 301 (Injury and Illness Incident Report): a detailed incident report for each recordable case; employers may substitute the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents Form 101 or another equivalent form that captures the same information (29 C.F.R. § 1904.29(b)(3); 454 CMR 25.06).
• OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses): an annual summary compiled from the Form 300 Log (29 C.F.R. § 1904.32).

Records may be maintained electronically or at a central location, but employers must be able to produce establishment-specific data when requested by DLS.

Annual summary posting requirement

Covered employers must post the completed and certified Form 300A each year from February 1 through April 30 of the year following the calendar year covered by the form (29 C.F.R. § 1904.32(b)(6); 454 CMR 25.02). The form must be posted in a conspicuous location where employee notices are customarily posted, and it may not be altered, defaced, or covered by other materials. Even if zero recordable injuries or illnesses occurred during the year, the employer must complete and post the Form 300A with zeros in the summary columns.

A company executive must certify the Form 300A before posting. Under 29 C.F.R. § 1904.32(b)(3), the certifying official must be an owner, an officer of the corporation, the highest-ranking company official working at the establishment, or the immediate supervisor of that official. The signature certifies that the executive has examined the Form 300 Log and reasonably believes, based on knowledge of the recordkeeping process, that the annual summary is correct and complete.

Retention

The OSHA 300 Log, the 301 Incident Reports, and the 300A Summary (or their approved equivalents) must be retained for five years following the end of the calendar year that the records cover, under 29 C.F.R. § 1904.33 (incorporated via 454 CMR 25.02).

Electronic submission to OSHA

Public-sector employers in Massachusetts under the state plan are not required to electronically upload their OSHA 300A data to the federal OSHA Injury Tracking Application (ITA) website. However, approximately 275 public-sector employers are selected each year to participate in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses; those selected are required to respond and submit data from their OSHA 300, 300A, and 301 forms.

Source: 454 CMR 25.00 | Federal Register, 87 FR 51194 (Aug. 18, 2022) | 29 C.F.R. § 1904.1 | 29 C.F.R. § 1904.32 | Massachusetts State Plan Information